Prime movers resurgent in Poland

After a topsy-turvy season in 2006/07 which saw Zagłębie Lubin crowned champions, the old order is back in charge in Polish football with Legia Warszawa and Wisła Kraków on top.

Normal service
Three games into the new Ekstraklasa campaign, the two traditional giants of the Polish football scene top the rankings with nine points each. For inexperienced Legia coach Jan Urban, league wins against MKS Cracovia Kraków, Górnik Zabrze and Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski have softened the blow of Legia's elimination from the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the misbehaviour of their fans in the game against Lithuania's FK Vėtra.

Second halves
At the moment, however, Urban's young side have been showing Jeckyll-and-Hyde-like form. In the first halves of their league games they have been exceptional but have tended to lose the plot after the half-time interval. "We need to find the reason why the team plays much worse in the second half," said Urban. However, he can take comfort from the fact that his side have yet to concede a single goal in the league this season.

Wisła cracking
The same is true of Wisła, now led by Maciej Skorża, who have scored seven goals without reply in their three games - including four in a rout of ambitious Korona Kielce on 10 August - and are looking to be in their best form in years. The return of winger Kamil Kosowski, following a loan spell at AC Chievo Verona, and the arrival of Andrzej Niedzielan, who has been in the Nethelands with NEC Nijmegen, have left Wisła looking a class act.

Iwański free-kick
While the top two have been getting into their stride, the top two sides from last season, Zagłębie and GKS Bełchatów, met on 11 August, with a sweetly-struck Maciej Iwański free-kick giving the league champions a 1-0 win. It was some consolation for Zagłębie after they were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by FC Steaua Bucuresti. "The most important is that we got back off our knees after losing to Steaua," said coach Czesław Michniewicz.

UEFA Cup
Bełchatów face Ukraine's FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round this week but are without playmaker Łukasz Garguła as well as defenders Dariusz Pietrasiak and Grzegorz Fonfara through long-term injuries - a massive headache for 64-year-old coach Orest Lenczyk. Groclin will also be flying the flag for Poland in the UEFA Cup as they take on FC Tobol Kostanay of Kazakhstan having shown some good form this season.